Something Worth the Wait
by I am the HERO AMERICA
Summary: Dipper was always a little bit different from the rest of his family, but why did his biology blood test come back different from what his parents' type is, could something be a little off? And when they figure it out, what's going to happen to the Mystery Twins? This is sorta Pinecest-y, it's all explained inside this lovely little thing. THIS IS A ONESHOT! NOT GONNA MULTIPLY!


**A/N: Hello, my fabulous little minions! How are you? I have a job, so I won't be updating as often as I should be (I don't do that anyway, but now I have an excuse) anyway, I'm excited because all of my other fics have plot outlines for the final chapters written out! And I'm very excited to show you this fic! It's Gravity Falls! So, I stumbled upon Pinecest the other day and was a little, well, confused, but then I started thinking about if they weren't related, they'd totally be dating. So, I bring you this! Be warned, this is loosely based off bits and pieces of Switched at Birth, but not enough that I felt it should be a cross-over.**

**Disclaimer: *Looks at list of things I own* Hufflepuff scarf, laptop, Nanny job... Nope! I don't own Gravity Falls or anything else copyrighted in this story!**

**Read and Review please!  
~Usachan!  
~Enjoy!**

* * *

Mabel bounced up and down, she couldn't wait to get to lunch. Her friends had said something about a "Hot New Guy" that had been hanging out with Dipper, and they finally convinced him to bring his new friend to the lunch table.

"Okay, sorry I'm late, my lab partner wouldn't clean up his mess!" Mabel sighed dramatically and flopped into the only empty seat at the table.

"It's fine, Mabel. This is Bill. Bill, this is my twin sister, Mabel," Dipper smiled as he pointed at the people.

"Hey, you know, Sarah was right; Bill looks like Percy Jackson." Mabel and the rest of the girls giggled as Bill looked over at Dipper for help in the conversation, the other boy just shrugged and ate his sandwich.

"Ew! Your sandwich just squirted yellow slime!" Sarah squealed as she pointed at Dipper's sandwich.

"That's not slime, it's mustard," Dipper stated, peeling the top of the sandwich off and showing it to the girl. Mabel, who was sitting next to Sarah, recoiled from the smell in disgust. She shoved her brother's hand away and turned to her own lunch: turkey and sprinkles.

"Now this, _this_ is quality food." She smiled and took a bite out of her interesting cuisine.

* * *

"Mabel, come take a look at this," Dipper said, waving his sister over to the cabinet that connected the dining room and the kitchen.

"What's up, bro-bro?" Mabel asked, hopping on the stool next to Dipper and creating a loud bang as the stool tilted on two legs then back to four. She giggled slightly at the movement then grabbed an apple from the basket on the counter, taking a giant bite out of it and spraying juice all over.

"Okay, so look at this test," Dipper slid a slip of paper in front of Mabel. "This is my blood test and it says that I am type B blood, right?" Dipper started, but Mabel just kept crunching on her apple. "Mabel, you've gotta focus here, this is serious."

"That's blood right?" Dipper nodded, "what is it doing on our table, Dippingsauce?"

"That's not important here, what is important is that it says I'm a type B blood, but Mom and Dad are both type A!"

"Stho?" came the girl's muddled response as she sprayed apple chunks and spit onto the table.

"That's disgusting, Mabel!" Dipper shoved her playfully, "And besides: I don't make mistakes."

"Yes you do!"

"Prove it!"

"The Zombie/Gnome Incident when we were twelve," Mabel replied smugly.

"One mistake, okay, I'll give you that."

"There's more: Tyrone, Rumble McSkirmish, the Wax Figure Murder Case, Tent O' Telepathy, shall I go on? I have a whole scrapbook of your screw-ups!" Mabel smiled proudly, swinging her feet back and forth childishly.

"No, I'm good, anyway, I have a plan to get to the bottom of this!" Dipper scooped up the papers and ran off to his room, only turning at the kitchen door to shout, "A plan!"

* * *

That night as the Pines family sat down to eat dinner, Dipper was feeling reasonably nervous about his plan. Sure, it was a good plan, in theory. Dipper was confident that he could pull it off without any hitches, but with his family, there was always a hitch.

"Hey, Dipper look! I have a mustache!" Mabel giggled as she balanced a single buttered noodle above her upper lip. She then crossed her eyes and started humming a stupid song that Grunkle Stan taught her last summer.

"Mabel, stop playing with your food and finish up," their dad scolded, though a spark of amusement twinkled in his eyes as he daughter used her tongue to get the noodle back in her mouth.

Dipper looked around the small kitchen/dining room that he had grown up it, he had eaten many meals in this room, done homework, came up with his first paranormal theory, and even released about a hundred fireflies with Mabel in this room. The dull blue wallpaper that his parents secretly loved was faded and sad looking, but the pots and pans and family pictures that hung on the walls made it seem alive with real people that loved life. As he looked around the room, he felt his question bubbling up in his throat and threatening to rip his throat out if he didn't say anything.

"Hey, can I ask something, Mom?" He asked, stabbing his noodles nervously.

"Sure, sweetie, what is it?" She asked, reaching for her water glass and taking a small sip.

"Mom, I want to do a DNA test. I just want to make sure that I made a mistake in my science lab and not the other way around."

"'The other way around'? What's that supposed to mean, sport?" His dad asked, looking over at his son questionably.

"Well, you and mom are both type A blood, but I'm type B, which is practically impossible! So, can we please check with the professionals?"

"Well, if you really need to be reassured..." his mom sighed before nodding her head, "we'll get your blood looked at."

* * *

"I'd like to thank you all for coming so quickly," the doctor nodded in approval. His name was something that didn't stick in the Pines' brains, so they just called him "Doctor DNA" around the house.

Doctor DNA's office was a dull yellowish-white color that you usually find in hospitals. The room wasn't too big, but it was big enough to hold a desk scattered with papers, and the file cabinet in the left corner next to the door. Diplomas hung on the walls, showing how accomplished the doctor has been in his schooling. And the was...interesting. It smelled like latex gloves and burnt toast. All in all, Dipper didn't really like this office, he felt cramped and crowded in the average sized room, it felt like the walls were closing in on him, and he knew that the doctor wouldn't give him any good news. He turned to look at his family and realized for the first time, maybe he didn't want to hear what the doctor had to say. Maybe staying unsure of why he was so different from his family, yet so alike, was the best thing for him at the moment. He wanted to be with his family, but as soon as the doctor opened the folder to show them the results, he knew that his world would come crashing down.

"I am so sorry, but he is not your son," Doctor DNA handed them the folder carefully, continuing to tell them the facts they had, "Well, the hospital believes a mix-up had happened and that happened to switch your son with _him_." Doctor DNA pointed at Dipper, and the way he talked about him, like this man had some sort of grudge against a mistake that he hadn't even made.

"No, no, no! You're wrong, and Dipper is my brother!" Mabel shouted, shoving away from the small chair she was sitting in, "and I don't appreciate you using that tone when addressing him!" She stormed out of the room, a flurry of neon green and yellow stripes out the plain wooden door, slamming it on her way out.

* * *

Dipper was sitting up against the black sink in the bathroom of the upstairs bathroom when the door burst open and hit him in the knee.

"Gah! Knock next time, would ya?" Dipper yelled, rubbing his sore knee and looking up to see Mabel walk in and shove past him to sit in the tub.

"What are you doing?" Dipper asked, repositioning himself onto his knees and scooted closer to the bathtub.

"Sulking." Mabel mumbled, reaching up to turn on the water, then she adjusted herself to be right underneath the rain that came from the shower head.

"Mabel, you're going to catch a cold!" Dipper lunged for the handle, trying to turn off the water. Mabel grabbed the boy just before he could reach his target and pinned him underneath her, growling furiously, "You are _not_ going to touch that!" Her soaking wet hair hung around her head in clumps, some sticking to her face and other clumps dangling inches from Dipper's own face. Her eyes held a fire that Dipper had only seen a few times in his life, and it was never once directed at him. He felt her long fingernails digging into his wrists as she held him to the bottom of the tub and he felt her knee digging into him, right underneath his rib cage. She was furious, yet Dipper saw something underneath the furry, something he couldn't quite place It hid beneath the fire in her brown eyes.

"M-mabel? Are you okay?" Dipper asked slowly, struggling to breath as the girl continued to wear her knee into his upper stomach.

"No! We just learned that the hospital somehow mistook a baby with the damn Big Dipper on his tiny forehead for a baby without it on his forehead, and that we are related and you aren't my brother and I am not okay!" Mabel finally broke, her tears mixed with the shower water and fell on top of Dipper's wet face. He nodded and gently sat up, forcing Mabel off of him. The girl fell forward, then sat up against the back wall of tub, her knees pulled up to her chest and started sobbing. Her body rocked with violent jerks as all of the emotions tumbled out and fell across her knees. She was a mess, her baggy, drenched sweater clung to her body and dripped it's neon coloring into the tub. Her hair had formed messier clumps than it had been in earlier and Dipper realised for the first time that this was just as hard on Mabel as it was on him, maybe even harder.

Dipper turned his attention the the handle and gently shut off the water. Next he hopped out of the tub and got a dark blue towel out from underneath the sink. He brought the towel back into the tub with him and placed it around the girl's shoulders. She looked up when the towel was placed on her shoulders and she saw Dipper sitting there, smiling at her.

"Now, let's go get dried off, the other family's on their way."

* * *

The Pines family stood in the dining room, each doing their own nervous tick around the rest of the family. Mabel sat at the counter, using her glittery duct tape to make a hat out of the fruit in the basket. Dipper was pacing around, never quite making it all the way across the room or back. Their mom was in the kitchen, making way too much food for eight people to eat in one sitting, possibly even two sittings. And their dad, who seemed the calmest of the group, sat at the dining room table, reading the day's news paper. For the fourth time that day.

There was a quiet knock on the door, but Mabel made a big deal about the noise, "it's them! Someone get the door! Should I do it? _MOOOOOOOM_!" She shouted as she raced to the door.

"Mabel! Calm down!" Dipper shouted, chasing after Mabel as she threw open the door.

"Hi! I'm Mabel, this is Dipper! You guys must be the Johnsons!" Mabel smiled brightly, showing of her perfect teeth. She had been doing that ever since she got her braces off that summer.

"Oh, hello. Yes, we're the Johnsons. May we come in?" The blonde woman asked. She was standing behind two teenagers, who were around Mabel and Dipper's age, and she was stunning. It wasn't a beautiful stunning, or an ugly one either, she was just stunning. All her features looked like they were carved out of ice, sharp and clear. She had a hardened face, but the laugh lines along her face showed that she loved to laugh and could laugh easily.

The dark haired man had just as many laugh lines along his eyes and he was tall, almost a walking building if you would've asked Mabel about his height. His hair was like Dipper's, curly, messy and long. He had a small gap between his teeth that you could see when he spoke or laughed.

The kids looked, well they looked like Dipper and Mabel, only less. The boy had black hair, but it was clearly dyed that way and his hair was styled in a Widow's Peak, like a vampire. And he wore a plain blue shirt with faded blue jeans on his legs. The girl was an exact mirror copy of Mabel: a neon t-shirt on top and a fun colored pair of jeans that clearly did not match the shirt. Her hair was long and curly like Mabel's, but she was blonde. Her hair was the color of Bill Cypher, bright and almost yellow.

"Yeah, common in. Mom! They're here!" Mabel called, leading the way into the dining room. Dipper followed the group in wonder, this was his real family?

"Oh, hello, you're the Johnsons?" Mrs. Pines forced a smile on her face and wiped her hands on her apron, "well, it's nice to meet you."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you. I'm Mary, this is my husband James and these are our kids, Hailey and Richard. Or, our daughter and your son... I'm sorry this is all so weird." Dipper's biological mother smiled apologetically at her confusion of their situation.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Lesa, this is my husband Derol and our kids Dipper and Mabel, whom you've already met." At that introduction, Richard started to snicker.

"What's so funny, kid?" Mabel asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Is his real name 'Dipper'?" He asked, not even trying to hold his laughter in.

"You're one to talk! You have a Widow's Peak!" Mabel shouted, gesturing at her biological brother's hair.

"Mabel, calm down, it's fine," Dipper placed his hand on Mabel's shoulder, forcing her backwards to calm down. He then turned towards Richard to explain, "it's a nickname, but I've always been called that, so I just introduce myself like that." He smiled, trying to hold his own laugh inside, "but what's with the hair?"

"School play. We just had our last performance, so now I'm just waiting for it to be long enough to cut." Richard explained nonchalantly with a wave of his hand. Dipper nodded, then turned to Hailey with a smile, "and how are you, Halley?"

Halley stared blankly at Dipper before turning to Richard in a look of confusion.

"Oh, right, he asked how you were," Richard said slowly, using his hands as well as his voice to inform the girl of Dipper's question. She nodded then turned back to Dipper and smiled brightly with a nod.

"Whoa! He used his hands to talk! Cool!" Mabel smiled as she looked from Hailey to Richard and back again.

"It's called sign language, haven't you heard of deaf people?"

"Yes! Dipper took sign language instead of German!" Mabel pouted, crossing her arms and stomping off to her bedroom upstairs.

"I'm sorry, she's still upset about that I guess." Derol sighed as he left the dining room to go smooth Mabel's ruffled feathers.

And the rest of the evening followed with an awkward dinner and the adults figuring out the next move: how the hospital made this mistake and what they were going to do about it.

What the two sets of twins didn't know was that the parents were brewing up a secret plan that they obviously would be against.

* * *

"Well, the hospital called, and they said that they did indeed do this to us on purpose." Dipper sighed as he flopped onto the couch in the living room.

"What?!" Mabel shrieked, throwing her controller across the room towards the game console. She whipped around and jumped onto the couch, which includes jumping on top of Dipper.

"Ow! Mabel! Get off me!" Dipper shouted, throwing the girl from himself and thus onto the ground.

"Sorry, but what do you mean by the hospital remark?" She asked, pushing herself into a sitting position on the floor and glared up at Dipper.

"Well, exactly that. My uncle was a criminal and he attacked the brother of the manager on the night we, me and Halley, were born and so he pushed the staff to make the switch." Dipper sighed and rolled onto his stomach and started to mumble his eighty-five step plan into the couch cushion.

"Mabel! Dipper! We need to talk to you!" Their father called from the dining room, causing the two fourteen year olds to stumble into the dining room and sit at the round table.

"What's up, Dad?" Mabel asked as she shoved a cookie from the tray in the center into her mouth.

"Well, your mother and I have been talking-"

"That's never a good sign," the two teens snickered, earning a glare from Derol and Lesa. The adults were sitting across from the teens, looking tense and serious, which really wasn't a good sign and the teens realized that as soon as they were scolded.

"No, seriously, what's wrong?" Dipper asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"Well, the Johnsons and us were talking about our situation. We have a lawyer on our case as we speak, so don't worry."

"Then what's the problem?" Dipper snapped, he couldn't understand why their parents looked so grim and it was pissing him off. He took a deep breath and apologized, "please, continue."

"What your father was trying to tell you two was that the adults of the situation have decided that we should unswitch the switch." Their mom finished, pulling the tray of cookies away from Mabel, who had eaten more than half by that point.

The two teens stared over at the adults, not sure they had heard them right, what did they mean by "unswitch the switch"?

"Mabel? Dipper? Say something, anything." Yet no one spoke, they sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like an eternity and no one could figure out how to break it. No one could find the words to make them feel better.

Finally Mabel stood up, and opened her mouth, "I think I'm going to be sick." And she ran from the room.

* * *

Dipper had all of his clothes and blankets packed up, those were the things he was allowed to take with him no matter what, but the rest, well, he had to come up with things that came with him and the things that either went to Mabel or the trash bin. As he stared up at the walls he decided that he only needed five things: the caticature Mabel drew of him, the picture that was taken when their Grunkle Stan took them fishing that first summer, his laptop, journal number three and an unsent love letter.

"Alright, I guess I'm ready to leave..." he sighed and left from the now empty room. "Mabel! Where are you?" He called, lugging his school bag over his shoulder.

"Sorry! The bus leaves for the old man's place early in the morning! I was up all night packing, again." Mabel smiled sheepishly as she bounced into entryway, her nightgown still on and her hair a sleepy mess. She gave him a tired, lopsided grin as she pushed her hair out of her face, "so, you're really leaving then?" She asked, bouncing on her heels.

"Yeah, I guess," Dipper gave her a weak smile as he reached for the journal he snagged two years prior in Gravity Falls. "Here, you'll need this. I won't be there to keep an eye on you," he gave the worn journal to the girl with a wink.

"Dipper! I can't take the journal, it's yours!" Mabel tried to give the journal back, but Dipper wouldn't take it back. He laughed as she held the journal at arm's length, looking it over with nostalgic eyes, "I mean, it holds too many memories, you really should keep it."

"No, you need it more than I do. Keep it," Dipper pulled the girl into a warm embrace, the last one he'd get for a long time.

"Dip, I'm gonna miss you," Mabel choked out, dropping the book and hugging him back.

"Me too, but hey, you'll forget me in like, a month. Promise." And he backed away, grabbing his suitcase and carrying it out the front door, to the car that was waiting to take him away from his life, from his home and from his family. But, unknown to Mabel, the journal wasn't his only surprise for the young girl.

Dipper was right, as usual, and the two soon forgot about the other. Mabel and Richard were welcomed by Grunkle Stan, Soos and Wendy, oh and Waddles. It was a simple, relaxing welcome back for Mabel and an even simpler welcome to the neighborhood.

Dipper on the other hand, he was greeted by a giant banner that read "WELCOME HOME, BABY BOY" in big baby blue lettering and it was covered in little storks with baby blue ribbons between their beaks and a baby wrapped inside. Halley, James and Mary were waiting in the living room with a small cake, also in blue. This was the same blue as his hat from Gravity Falls, the one he had to leave back at the Pines' house because it didn't feel right to have the family he thought he was apart of tagging along as he tried to join his real family.

"Is this all for me?" He asked, dropping his backpack and suitcase on the floor in astonishment.

"Mm-hm! You like it? Is it too cheesy?" Mary asked, smiling at him uncertainly.

"No, no, cheesy is... cheesy is perfect."

* * *

Two years. It only took two years for the Mystery Twins to reunite with each other.

It was a dreary day, gray clouds covered the whole sky and then some as they leaked into ground as fog. Mabel was walking down the sidewalk, not really paying attention to where she was going, just walking to get out of the that empty house. Her parents were still at work, they got off around six at night and her brother was at rehearsal for the summer musical. So, Mabel walked around the town, a few dollars shoved into the pocket of her tye-dyed shorts and her hair up in a messy hodgepodge underneath her light blue hat. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, and decided to eat a cherry red sucker. However, as she was fishing it out of her fuzzy backpack she ran into a squishy wall. Which, turned out to not be a wall at all, instead it was a real person, a guy in fact; and this guy was cute.

"Oh, sorry I didn't see you there," Mabel said, apologizing while stumbling backwards after running into him.

"No, it's fine I wasn't looking eithe- do I know you?" He asked, turning to face her fully. He had dark curly brown hair and a small goatee on his chin. He was tall and lanky, but in the cutest way possible and he looked, as Mabel would put it, totally squishable.

"Not that I know, sorry. But, I'm just so adorable, so, you know," Mabel giggled, giving him her hand. "My name's Mabel Pines."

"Mabel? Oh my god! You look amazing!" The boy exclaimed, giving a tiny little bounce.

"I'm sorry?"

"Sorry, sorry, it' me, Marcus!" He smiled, and pointed at his forehead.

"Nope, I know a 'Soos', is that close enough?" Mabel smiled apologetically once again for not recognizing the boy.

"Oh, sorry, I mean Dipper. Mabel, it's Dipper, look," the boy lifted back the hair in front of his forehead and showed her the birthmark that looked like the Big Dipper.

"Ohmygosh!" She shouted, jumping into the boy's arms, "I haven't seen you in forever! How are you, Dippingsauce?"

"I'm doing great. Look! I have a shirt that isn't the one I wore yesterday! And you! You've learned to wear jeans!" Dipper laughed as he caught the jumping girl easily.

"I know! I'm all grown up." She smiled, stepping back and looking at the boy with a twinkle in her eyes. "Or should I say my baby boy's all grown up! Look at you, facial hair!" Mabel pointed excitedly at the boy who now towered over her.

"It's not a big deal, I mea-"

"And your _voice_! Grunkle Stan would be proud," She giggled, poking the boy in the gut. Dipper laughed and told her to quit it.

"Hey, you busy? We can go get pizza or something," Mabel suggested, not wanting this conversation to stop.

"Yeah, actually, we're in the middle of moving. Back to Piedmont, not away, we just got here, why would we move?" Dipper gave a nervous laugh as he lifted the plastic bag in his hand, "I just had to grab some stuff for Mom."

"Oh, okay, then you'll be at school tomorrow?" Mabel asked hopefully, the twinkle back in her eyes.

"Actually, I'm enrolled in the Carson School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. They have this new program for students with deaf people in the home, thought I'd try it out. But, hey! Why don't you give me your number and I'll shoot you a text when we're settled in?" Dipper asked, pulling his light blue phone from his pocket.

"Sure, sure, here," she fished her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and pulled up her number for him.

"Got it, lemme check though," Dipper sent her a quick text and almost instantly the phone started to sing Cray Cray by Sev'ral Timez. Dipper snickered as he heard that.

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here," Mabel shoved him playfully as she turned around and headed home.

Dipper called out after her playfully, "Nice hat, Mabel."

* * *

Mabel ran around the house, humming and picking up little things of this and that. She was wearing her favorite dress, the one that was splatter painted in the neon rainbow and had spaghetti straps. She had red converse on top of her knee high socks, one blue and one pink, but both striped.

"Mabel! You look nice, where are you headed?" Richard laughed as she ran over and grabbed the magazines off the table and then putting them back. She smelled of lilacs and chocolate.

"I'm headed out, on a date," Mabel smiled slightly, "Well, with a friend, but it might be a real date. He wasn't really clear..."

"Really? Well, good luck, sis," Richard smiled, tipping his pop can up at her before drinking from it.

"Thanks, Richard," Mabel smiled, reaching in her bag to find her lip gloss. At that moment, her phone started to play Disco Girl by pop sensation BABBA and Mabel squealed in excitement, "He's here! Later, bro!"

* * *

"Mabel, you look fantastic!" Dipper greeted as Mabel hopped out of her house and over to Dipper's car. He was wearing a simple, unbuttoned green plaid shirt over a white t-shirt with a pipe on it. And some words in French, which Mabel didn't speak because French was for fairy pixies and gnomes (She spoke German, the manly language). His dark wash jeans were over his beat up sneakers.

"Thanks, but why is there a pipe on your shirt?" She asked as he let her into his gray car then got in on his side. His car smelled of fast food and maple syrup. Dipper laughed again at her question and she raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny, Dip?"

"Did you really just ask that?" Dipper laughed, starting the engine, "'Ceci n'est pas une pipe', you've never heard that?"

"No, what does that even mean?" Mabel asked, throwing her hands up in the air with a laugh, "Just tell me what it means! I have to know, dude!"

"René Magritte, he was the artist who made this. See, it's not a pipe, but it's a _picture _of one, see?" Dipper explained, "It's abstract and very clever, get it?"

"No, it sounds like a dumb idea, for poopjerks," Mabel pouted, crossing her arms in a pout and staring out the front window.

"I see your vocabulary has become very sophisticated since I left. So, I was thinking dinner at that one restaurant?" Dipper asked, turning onto Main Street. Mabel nodded and agreed to his plans.

"Mabel, we're here, you've gotta get out of the car." Dipper said, as he tried to coax her out of the car.

"Nope, this is fine, I'll stay here and avoid any and all people from my school..." Mabel sunk lower in her seat, avoiding the confused glares of the small group that was headed out of the restaurant.

"Mabel, they're gone, you can come out now," Dipper finally remembered he had the keys, and therefore had the power to unlock the car and pull her out. Mabel blushed a deep shade of red before pushing off the car seat and letting Dipper lead her to the restaurant. He left her for a second to get a table and Mabel felt her stomach leapt up into her stomach and the butterflies inside her flew up into her throat, and her head felt light and fluffy, which prevented her from breathing for a moment (you could say that Dipper "stole her breath"); and in reality, he did, he always had, and he always will. Mabel always felt like this, but she never had a name for it; she had no name for the way she felt about her supposed brother, or why she got so upset about the switch. Now, she knew, it was love. She had always loved Dipper, for as long as she could remember.

"Mabel, you okay?" Dipper asked, coming back from the front desk and grabbing her hand again, gently leading her to their table.

The restaurant was dimly lit with candles and low hanging lights as the main sources of lighting. The soothing scent of Italian food soothed her tense muscles, and calmed her mind. She looked around the dimly lit restaurant and saw mostly couples with a few small groups thrown in the mix. She realised that this was indeed a fancy place.

Once they sat down and ordered some Pitt soda, they began to settle into a casual conversation.

"So, how's the family, Dippingsauce?" Mabel asked as she took a sip of the water that the waitress had set down earlier.

"We're doing great, actually. Halley has gone through speech therapy and she can read lips! She was so happy to be done with that class, and Dad got a promotion at work, which is why we moved here. How about yours?"

"Well, we're pretty solid on my end too, actually. Richard was cast in the summer musical, and I'm doing costumes for it. We're doing Chicago, so my sewing room is _covered_ in glitter and rhinestones right now." She laughed lightly before continuing, "Mom and Dad are fine too, still writing and working as usual." She smiled over at Dipper and he smiled back.

And after a while, smiling became hand holding, then the bill came, and they paid, then left. Dipper dropped Mabel off at her house and said goodnight, and that was it. Nothing else happened between our two Mystery Twins. They parted ways. Or, at least for the moment.

Then, winter came and they fell into each other's lives once more.

"Mabel! We need your help over here!" Bill called as he grabbed the hem of a dress and repinned it.

"What did you touch this time?" She asked, half sighing and half laughing as she rushed over and took the dress hem away.

"Nothing! It's too long for Sarah, she keeps tripping over it and I don't want to reblock her scenes to absolute stillness. I won't!"

"Okay, okay, don't keep your panties in a twist, Herr Director I'll fix it, how about an inch, two? Let's go with two and a half inches to keep it safe, good?" She asked, pulling a small notepad and a ruler.

"Why are you using a ruler?" Bill asked, moving away from the dress to let the costume designer through.

"Because you lost my tape measure and I haven't gotten around to bringing my spare," She mumbled as she began to hem up the dress.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you, the final battle, as you know, we got in! But, we just found out who we're competing against, and you're not gonna like it," Bill said, he sounded close to the exit and the sharp objects on the table. Probably to stop Mabel from doing something irrational once he told her the news.

"Who are we competing against?" Mabel asked, setting down the pins and the ruler.

"San Francisco School of Performing Arts, Alameda High School and Carson School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing," Bill said, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"What? And, what?"Mabel asked, taking a deep breath in and continuing to hem.

"You're okay with this?"

"Why wouldn't I be, I'm honored to be apart of the final four in the competition, and I'll actually be done with work in time to go! I'm excited to see your play live!" Mabel laughed uneasily, "now get out, unless you want Sarah to go on and trip all across the stage." Mabel stood up and started shoving Bill out the door.

* * *

"Alright gang, this is it, we made it this far and we are going to be awesome!" Bill placed his hands on his hips and took a deep breath in through his nose, "you smell that guys? That's the smell of us winning that trophy in more than just the 'Participated' category."

"Uh, Bill, we first have to perform the show," Mabel laughed, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Right, okay, well, then let's get into costume and makeup, folks!" the cast all followed their director and costume designer into the back to get ready for their show.

The show was fantastic, the actors had very few hiccups in the show, and when they did mess up, it wasn't clear to anyone, unless you sat next to Bill who had had a miniature heart attack every time Sarah took one too many beats before starting her line or when Alex almost dropped a prop. Good think Mabel was sitting next to him and kept him calm. And when the actors got back from changing, they got a tackle from both Mabel and Bill, with many compliments and back pats.

"Lastly, we have the Carson School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing with their performance of Poe's Midnight Dreary!" And then the lights went down.

A single spotlight, a creepy door. And over the loudspeaker, a crackling recording of the Raven played and then, more lights, and five people stepped out, two of them holding onto a third and the other two watching in horror. Mabel joined the watching actors in their horrified looks as she saw the boy playing the restrained poet, Dipper.

"I, uh, I've gotta go to the bathroom..." Mabel whispered to Bill, stumbling out of the seat and rushing out of the theater.

Once out in the hall she started hyperventilating, Dipper was there and they were still weird, they never talked or texted anymore and practically avoided each other if they saw each other. Neither of them went to sporting events between the two schools to prevent running into each other.

"Okay, Mabel, you just gotta breathe, just keep your head on!" Mabel took a few more deep breaths and went back into the theater and finished watching the play.

* * *

"Alright, that was amazing! Thank you, Carson! Okay, now we're going to let the actors get back into regular clothes then announce the awards!" The Emcee started to tell bad theater puns as the Carson School actors started to trickle into the theater.

Finally, one of the judges stood up and handed the envelopes to the Emcee so she could start giving away the awards.

"Okay, the award for the Best Costumes goes to the school that put on A Midsummer's Night Dream! Piedmont High School and their costume designer: Senior Mabel Pines!" A thunderous applause started to rumble through the theater as Bill pulled Mabel to her feet and then dragged her up the stage, just so she could accept the award that she deserved.

"Here you go, Mabel, congratulations!" the Emcee handed the certificate to Mabel then began clapping for the girl. Mabel beamed proudly as she held the certificate close to her, she gave a wave then ran off the stage and sat back down.

She tuned out for the rest of the awards, only clapping when others clapped and saying things when Bill spoke, she was too shocked to know that she won an award that she could only vaguely remember Sarah winning Best Actress Overall and Bill practically crying because of it. She could remember Dipper went on stage, but she didn't know why.

"And finally, the award for Best Performance goes to, drum roll please!" And the entire theater started to stamp their feet in a mock drum roll.

"Piedmont High School!" And the crowd went nuts! They all started cheering loudly and people stood up to congratulate the school as they all followed Bill, their hardworking director, right up onto that stage to accept the trophy.

* * *

"And that, my dear friends goes to show you that theater is awesome! Three awards under our belt! How cool is that?" Bill laughed excitedly, "okay, let's go to that new pizza place down the road to celebrate!" They whole cast started to cheer as they followed Bill out to the minibus they borrowed from the school.

"Mabel, you coming?" Alex asked, stopping on his way out.

"Yeah, yeah, I just have to talk to a guy... about stuff..." Mabel laughed before making an awkward nonsense noise before rushing off down the hall.

"Mabel? What are you doing here?" Dipper asked as Mabel literally ran into him.

"Oh, good, I found you. Right, I'm here because I miss you and sorry to say this but, Dipper, I need you." Mabel blurted out, not even bothering to pick herself off the ground to look him in the eyes and instead, opted to look at her fingers.

"Mabel, get off the floor," he chuckled, holding out his hand for her. She looked up and grabbed the hand. "Well, now is good as any to give you this," Dipper sighed, running his hands through his hair before reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out a love letter that was never sent.

"What's this?" Mabel asked, delicately opening the envelope. She read the letter, her eyes grew larger and larger until Dipper thought they were going to pop out of her head.

"Oh, geez, I blew this whole thing didn't I, I'll just, uh, I'll just go." Dipper turned and left the hall, and then made his way out of the school.

"Dipper!" He turned at the sound of his name and it was a good thing he did, because it helped him escape a nasty tackle that would've landed him into the ground on his face. Instead he landed on his back with Mabel landing on top of him, kissing him full on the lips.

When she was done, she smiled down at the boy, "you big dork! I love you too!"


End file.
